Penny Blood Serial Cover

Alfred de Rosann: The Adventures of a French Gentleman By George W. M. Reynolds, this serial follows French émigrés fleeing Revolutionary terror in 1793. M. d'Estelle and his wife arrive in London with their infant daughter Eloise, settling in the Haymarket. After Madame d'Estelle dies from a lingering fever, her husband entrusts Eloise to the care of Mr. Clayton, a renowned surgeon, and his family. The Claytons have two sons—William and Henry—who become Eloise's companions. When d'Estelle encounters a former servant with news of political changes in France, he departs abruptly for Paris to recover his confiscated property. His subsequent letters report initial success, then betrayal by a political relative, financial despatch to London, and his intention to escape. He never returns. Years pass with no word of d'Estelle's fate, leaving young Eloise orphaned in Clayton's household.